


We're your family

by NYWCgirl



Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Ending, Captured, Concussions, Gaslighting, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Medical Experimentation, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Restraints, Team as Family, Trust
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-21
Updated: 2020-06-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:08:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24837412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NYWCgirl/pseuds/NYWCgirl
Summary: In episode E4S10, we see the team standing around Mac, worried, but what if they weren’t the Phoenix team?
Comments: 26
Kudos: 21
Collections: Hurt/Comfort Bingo - Round 11





	We're your family

**Author's Note:**

> This fic fills the ‘wild card’ square (gaslighting) on my H/C Bingo card

_Tesla’s house_

‘You take those and lay them out right there. By laying out lengths of magnet, a Tesla coil can take low voltage electricity and turn it into high voltage. In other words, we're gonna turn it up to 11.’

‘They're in here.’

‘Don't move, or I'll shoot.’

Mac flips the switch and electricity starts hissing. The men entering start to spasm and go down. Mac looks around but Desi isn´t here, so he leaves the room, finding her in a fight with one of the Codex TAX team. He jumps the person, at the last moment realizing it is a girl, before he gets bucked off and hits the ground hard, instantly blacking out.

* * *

Mac’s vision is the first thing to come back online and he stares at his hand. It is holding something. A compass. Why does his head hurts so much.

‘Hey, how, uh... ? How long was I out?’

‘Just a couple of hours. Hey, I think you should stay still, okay?’

Desi looks worried.

Mac sighs, ‘what happened?’

‘What's the last thing you remember?’

Mac frowns and searches his memory, ‘Oh, we were at Tesla's house. And then we found all that cool stuff in the... room? And then... fire?’ he asks not sure if these are memories.

‘Okay, you know what? He's concussed. We all just need to take a step back for a second.’

‘Wait. Shiva? Why-why am I thinking about a Hindu deity?’

‘Mac, I think you should just rest, okay?’

‘No. No, there's no time. We need what's in his head. Codex has the map. Oh. They ambushed us.’

‘I remember that, but why?’

‘We think they used us. They knew about Oversight's code and wanted us to break it so we'd lead them to Tesla's map.’

‘After you went down, it turned into a bit of a shoot-out, but, um, ultimately, they overpowered us and took what they came for. A tack team came to get us after Matty realized something was wrong.’

‘The map. Which leads to Tesla's superweapon. So Tesla must have hidden the weapon so it wouldn't fall into the wrong hands. And the map shows us where.’

‘Sorry to state the obvious here, but we need to get to said superweapon before the global terrorist organization does.’

‘And how? They have the map, and we obviously don't.’

‘Hold on a second. Before the ambush, you said even if you had the map, you'd need the room to decipher it.’

‘Yes. But I can't remember why.’

If they would just stop talking, maybe he could think around the pounding in his head.

‘Do you remember anything about it at all?’

Taylor looks serious, ‘Memory loss is unpredictable. It could come back in days, years. Never.’

‘I have an idea. Bozer, I want you to reach out to DARPA. Use my clearance and ask for Dr. Cheryl Werner. In the meantime, look for any info we can find on Shiva and where that map might lead.’ ‘The Markridge Scientific Institute in Pasadena. Tesla used to lecture there. They have an extensive archive on all of his files. If you're gonna find anything, that's where it will be.’

Bozer, Riley, Russel and Desi leave the room. Bozer and Matty are still looking serious. Matty tells Mac she needs to make some phone calls and leaves as well.

‘Why don´t you rest for a moment, Mac, you’re concussed.’

Mac swallows thickly, ‘yeah, the nausea isn´t helping.’

He closes his eyes and Bozer gestures to the nurse, who stepped away to give them some privacy, ‘ can you give him something for the nausea?’

‘Of course, I will give him some Ondansetron, it will help.’

She hands mac a cardboard kidney bowl and injects Zofran in the IV-port and Mac can feel the nausea fading away slowly, it also gives him a sort of weird detached feeling, which is probably the concussion messing with his mind.

* * *

‘Do you think he bought it?’

The Codex members watch through the one way mirror how the nurse injects something for the nausea.

‘Did you have to hit him that hard?’

Scarlet rolls her eyes, ‘I didn´t hit him, he jumped me and defended myself, how was I to know he would hit his head so hard on the floor?’

‘Settle down. We have him now and his team has no idea where we are. The docs will monitor his concussion and will start the DMT treatment.’

‘I am impressed by the stage building done for this op.’

‘Yeah, it must have been good, because Macgyver never questioned the setup. From what I could see not even for a minute.’

‘OK, are you ready “Matty”?’

She nods.

‘But why can´t we just inject the drugs and get it over with?’ Scarlett interjects.

‘The effects of DMT can be pretty intense. It can cause bad reactions if the person is stressed. As a result, it’s best to use it when you’re already in a positive state of mind. So that is why we want him to feel safe and comfortable.’

‘OK, let’s do this.’

* * *

‘So, you want to give me a memory drug?’ Mac looks unsure.

‘It's an experimental psychotropic drug developed by DARPA. It contains DMT, which has been proven to help trauma patients recover lost memories. We're hoping it'll help you find whatever you saw in the Tesla house.’

‘And it's safe?’

The doctor next to him snickers and Mac looks up at the doctor.

‘Cheryl, I swear to God!’ Matty chastises the doctor.

‘Sorry,’ she bends to his ear and whispers ‘It is so not safe.’

‘Matty, who is this? Doesn't Phoenix already have a team of fancy doctors?’

‘Cheryl is an old friend of mine.’

‘That's "Dr. Cheryl" to you.’ The doctor bites out to Bozer.

‘Okay.’

‘She works at DARPA.’

‘Yeah, the money's good, and my student loan payoff date is 2064, so... Quick question. Have you ever had a psychotic break, and if so, do you anticipate becoming violent?’

‘Uh, no. Why?’

‘Because patients have suffered severe reactions to this drug. Mental breakdowns. Some... irreversible damage.’ Matty explains.

‘Look, Mac... You don't have to do this.’

Mac knows he doesn´t have to do it, but since the info is inside his head, it will be their only chance.

‘But it might be our only shot at finding that weapon before Codex does, so let's do it.’

The doctor next to him is setting up everything.

‘Your prefrontal cortex, or short-term memories, that's the part we need to engage. We'll also give you a sedative, which will keep you unconscious and put you in a REM stage. You'll be in a lucid dream state reflecting your short-term memories. Stay focused there. Do not go wandering around into your past.’

‘Who knows, maybe this will help.’

‘Okay, you ready?’

‘Hold on. Maybe we should have a safe word or something, just in case. Tacos!’

‘Okay, that is not possible. Once he's under, the only thing that can pull him out is the adrenaline from the discovery of the short-term memory that he's looking for.’

That sounds vague.

‘And what if I don't find it?’

‘If your vitals spike, a medically induced adrenaline shot should do the trick. Okay? Please close your eyes. And count backwards from ten.’

Mac exhales sharply, but starts counting ‘Ten... nine... eight... seven... ‘, but nothing happens, ‘was there a sedative in there? I don't think it's working.’

* * *

Mac doesn´t understand why he is so lost. He has been in Tesla´s house for what feel like several hours. The DMT doesn’t work as he expected. When he enters Tesla’s room, he still is trying to figure out what he was planning on doing here.

‘You're not lost. Slow down. Sometimes you think you're going in one direction, but really, you're going in another.’

Seriously, what does it mean. Why does his brain makes everything so complicated? Mac looks towards the ceiling and suddenly he sees it, the compass is turned around.

‘The compass was the clue. But it's wrong.’

Tesla looks pleased and keeps stirring sugar in his tea.

‘West is east. And east is west. Wakey-wakey.’

Mac wakes up with a gasp. Above him stands doctor Cheryl with an syringe.

‘You're lucky. I was about to Pulp Fiction ya.’

‘So do you know where the weapon is?’

Mac explains what he saw in his hallucination and Matty immediately leaves the room, probably to contact Russel and the team.

‘OK, Mac, your blood pressure is real high, which is a side effect of the DMT, but I will give you something to counteract it.’

Doctor Cheryl draws up another syringe. Mac puts his head down, because he has to admit, he has never been a fan of injections. When his head is resting on the headrest, he can see the monitor and his blood pressure isn’t abnormally high. What is going on here? He looks up and the doctor is just about to inject whatever is in the syringe.

‘Stop, what is in there?’

Mac pulls is arm from the arm rest of the chair.

‘Like I said, an ACE inhibitor. What’s wrong?’

‘I don´t want it.’

‘Mac, it is for your own good.’

Mac makes a movement to get out of the chair and Bozer is suddenly next to him.

‘What’s you doing Mac, the doctor here knows what she is doing.’

Now Mac knows for sure something is wrong. Before their experiment, Bozer was questioning the doctor and now he convinced that she is doing a good job, no way.

‘I need to go to the bathroom, I…’

‘It can wait, I don´t want you to keel over.

‘DMT doesn´t do that, it’s called the “business man’s lunch” for a reason. It is short lasting without minimal side-effects. I’ll be fine.’

‘Still, you have a concussion from your fall earlier. I want you to lay back down.’

‘No!’

The moment Mac sits up and moves to get out of the chair. Bozer grabs his arm and Mac is taken aback by Bozer’s action.

‘What the hell Bozer? Let me go.’

When he feels the sting in his thigh, he knows he made an error, not keeping his eye on the doctor, but it is too late. He needs to get away, before the sedative takes a hold. But he can feel he is already too late. The disconnected feeling is already washing over him and Bozer easily keeps him in the chair. He reaches out and catches Bozer’s face. Horrified he looks at his hand that is holding a piece of Bozer’s face. It is the last thing he registers.

‘Well, that didn´t go as planned.’ Cheryl states dryly.

The man playing Bozer rolls his eyes, ‘no shit, Cheryl, you are the medical professional here. Now restrain him, before he wakes again.’

‘I gave him enough to keep him out for at least two hours.’

‘I don’t care, restrain him.’

Cheryl sighs, but does as she is told, quickly adding medical restraints. He isn’t getting out of these. She leaves the set-up to talk to her superiors.

‘What do we do now? Do you think he made us?’

‘No he didn´t, we will chuck it up to the DMT, it can give you very vivid hallucinations. That in combination with the concussion. Explain it to him. He needs facts. That is the way his brain works.’

Cheryl nods.

‘And take care of that mask, I want you in the room but make sure he can’t try again. But you need to be there to make sure Cheryl’s story sticks.’

The man posing as Bozer walks back to the make-up department to have his mask fixed.

* * *

When Mac wakes, he blinks against the strong overhead lighting. Doctor Cheryl is looming over him with a worried look.

‘How are you feeling?’

‘What happened?’

Mac wants to get up out of the chair and stills when he notices the restraints. Memories flooding back. The mask Bozer was wearing. He studies Doctor Cheryl, but he can´t see anything wrong with her.

‘Why am I restrained?’

‘Remember when I told you about some people having bad reactions to the drugs? Well, you are one of those people. We think it is the concussion which interfered with the DMT. You had quite the hallucination. What did you think happened?’

Just as Mac wants to say something, he can see Bozer coming in with some water.

‘Hi Mac, do you want some water? I can make you something to eat if you want? Are those really necessary?’

‘Yeah, Mac had an episode and we want to make sure he doesn´t take a header of the chair. Once you are a bit more stable, I will release them. I promise Mac, but it is for your own good.’

‘Where is Matty?’

‘She went out to make a phone call, do you want me to call her?’

‘No, that’s fine.’

If only this headache would subside, so he could think more clearly. A new wave of nausea waves over him and he swallows thickly.

‘Are you going to hurl, man? Because I just want to be prepared, OK?’

Mac takes deep breaths, not trusting himself to talk just yet.

* * *

‘He isn´t buying it. He can tell he is biding his time to escape, he knows he can’t get out of the medical restraints, but he is just acting calm and docile. What do you want to do, he served his purpose. Keeping him here any longer is a risk.’

‘I know, but Titan wants him.’

‘Well, then let’s transfer him to Titan, make it her problem.’

‘Let me make some calls.’

After calling, she turns around and calls Cheryl’s mobile, they need to get her in here, so they can talk. She can see Cheryl excuses herself with Mac and Bozer, probably telling them it is a private call and walks away in the opposite direction of where they are. Two minutes later she enters the room.

‘I was told to prep Macgyver for transport to Titan, she wants a word with him.’

‘OK, no problem. I asked the techs to patch a link to the medical equipment so they can simulate vitals.’

She goes back the way she came and starts talking to Mac. When Cheryl had time to explain, she walks out herself.

Mac studies her when she walks up.

‘Did you recuperate Blondie, I was worried for a moment.’

‘I’m fine.’

‘Of course you are, but do you mind if I ask a doctor’s opinion? So what’s the verdict Cheryl?’

‘His blood pressure is higher than I would like, but maybe that is just the stress and the concussion speaking. Mac indicated earlier he is nauseous, so I will give him some Zofran and then and don’t see why he can´t be released, as long as someone stays with him.’

‘No problem, I’ll take him home.’ Bozer offers, ‘what do you say Mac, we can buy some steaks on the way home and barbeque?’

Bozer keeps talking so Mac doesn´t pay attention to what the doctor is doing, but he is suspicious and checks the monitor again. This time the numbers match with the doctors statement and they can see Macgyver is doubting himself. He is still not convinced but he doesn´t resist that Cheryl injects the “Zofran” into his IV. It doesn´t take long before his eyes start to droop and he is out.

A tack team enters the room and removes the medical restraints, swapping them for high grade hand cuffs. Mac is lifted onto a stretcher and taken away.

‘That’s a wrap guys.’

Techs appear from everywhere and the placed is taken down. They finished their jobs. The package is on its way to Titan and Scarlet and her tack teams are on their way to retrieve Shiva.


End file.
